Punjab Miffed With Maharashtra Over COVID-19 +ve CasesAmong Nanded Returnees

Chandigarh: The Punjab state government is reportedly unhappy with the authorities in Maharashtra over the high number of Coronavirus positive cases among pilgrims who returned from Nanded. The Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu is said to have written a letter to the Maharashtra government expressing the state's displeasure in the matter.

Punjab's contention is that the health authorities in Maharashtra had not conducted the screening of residents of Punjab who had been stuck in Nanded for more than one month. Punjab is stated to have said that it would have taken its own medical teams to conduct tests in Nanded before bringing them back to the state. The Punjab government also pointed out that it is conducting screening and testing of every individual regardless of which state they belong to.

On its part, the Maharashtra government reportedly claimed that all pilgrims were medically screened before boarding and were asymptomatic. Many of them tested positive on their return to Punjab and could have been infected en route, implying that since on the way the vehicles passed through hotspots in Madhya Pradesh like Indore, they could have become infected in those places.

Maharashtra on Friday, sealed areas around the famous Sikh pilgrim shrine in Nanded, Takht Hazoor Sahib. The state government action came after Punjab reported a sharp spike in cases with 215 pilgrims who visited the shrine in Maharashtra testing positive on their return to Punjab. State government authorities are also screening residents in the area for any likely infections.